Avenging the Guardians
by ROTBTD
Summary: When the Pole is discovered to have been brutally attacked by an unknown foe, the Guardians must team up with the most unlikely of allies - the Avengers. With their two direst foes aiming for their destruction, will the Guardians be avenged or will cold and dark rule the world? T cause I'm paranoid, I own nothing.
1. Chapter 1: Meeting

Chapter One: Tony Stark

Tony blinked in surprise and broke out of his grumpy reverie at having all the Avengers coming to his tower when he looked up from his drink to see the sky clouded over and releasing pristine white snow. "That's not a common occurrence." He observed.

"Perhaps it is Jokul Frosti." A deep voice suggested.

Tony turned to see Thor Odinson looking out the window, arms crossed. "Jo-who?" Tony inquired incredulously. "He one of your Asgardians?"

Thor shook his head. "Nay, that is simply our name for him. I do believe the mortals here call him Jack Frost." He replied, gaze still fixed on the scene outside.

Tony nodded slowly. "Right. That clears it up to about the density of mud. Who is this Jack Frost?" He asked. "Why doesn't SHIELD have a bead on him?"

Thor raised an eyebrow as he turned his head to give Tony a look. "Have you been in the archives again?" He inquired, adopting a tone not unlike one used to scold a child.

"Is it a problem if I have been?" Tony answered unashamedly, swirling his drink. "Are you dodging my question?"

Thor sighed and shook his head. "Joku-_Jack Frost_ is a spiritual entity invisible to those who do not believe that he exists. He brings the winter, and brings fun and snow days to children." He looked like he might say more, but decided against it and looked out the window.

"Sounds like a lovely fellow." Tony mused, deciding to ferret out more information later. "And just how old is this man? Sorry, spirit?"

Thor laughed, long and loud. "Man? Nay. Jack Frost is a teenager, perhaps around seventeen years of age. He has, however, been around for over three hundred years."

Tony opened and closed his mouth a few times before any sound came out. "What, did he take a short swim in the Fountain of Youth?"

Thor smirked, though not in a very pleasant manner. "In a way. It was more a prolonged swim in a local lake when he fell through the ice."

Tony nodded. "This guy is getting more and more interesting." He mumbled into his drink.

"Sir." JARVIS said over a speaker. "Mr. Barton and Miss Romanoff are in the elevator."

"Well, I'm not in. Tell them to leave." Tony ordered right as the elevator slid open to admit the two agents. "Security breach!" He announced to nobody in general.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Nice. Well, you and Thor seem to be chatting amicably for once. Mind elaborating?"

"Oh, yes, we were talking about a mythical entity called Jack Frost that seems to be giving all the children in New York a snow day." Tony replied as he went to refill his drink. "Drinks, anyone? I'm having one."

He then looked up to see a boy, with a shock of pure white hair and carrying a strange staff, land delicately on the railing outside the windows. Thor made a small, involuntary movement of surprise. Natasha and Clint gave them both weird looks.

"Looking at something?" Clint asked.

Tony pointed at the boy, whose back was turned. "The magic kid that just came outta nowhere."

Clint shook his head slowly, and Natasha gave Tony an appraising look. "I see nothing." She told Stark slowly. "How many drinks have you had today?"

Tony rolled his eyes. "JARVIS!" He called, conveniently dodging the drink question, "Is there someone out there?"

"My sensors say that there is, though the thermal readings are quite strange, as if the person is emanating cold instead of normal bodily heat. Shall I put a thermal image on the window?"

"Yes, do that." Stark agreed, and watched Clint and Natasha blink in surprise as the shape of the strange boy appeared, large as life and blue, on the window. Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner chose that moment to arrive unannounced by JARVIS and blink at the silhouette.

"Is that suppose to be someone?" Bruce inquired, pointing a pen at the image.

"Jack Frost." Thor replied. "Shall we make contact?"

Tony blinked at Thor. "Ah, why not. He's on my tower, after all."

As Tony turned, he heard Thor comment, "Ah, Jack Frost cares little for property ownership. Unless it happens to be his property."

"Sounds like a few people I know." Tony mused as the door hissed open soundlessly.

"You?" Steve suggested as he followed everyone else out.

"Well, obviously." Tony retorted before walking onto the balcony near the boy. "Can I help you?"

The boy leapt into the air, startled, before landing on the railing again, facing the group with his staff coming up defensively.

"You...you can see me?" The boy demanded incredulously in a surprisingly deep voice.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Nah, I was talking to the other albino."

The boy tilted his head. "Al-what?" He then shrugged and studied the other Avengers. "So, who are you guys anyways?"

Tony stared. "Uh, the _Avengers_? The big shots of the nation? What are you, an idiot?"

The boy smirked. "Uh-pparently." He replied. "So this your place?"

Tony shook his head, waving his hands. "Oh, no. No. My place, yes. More questions, no. You answer what I ask."

The boy grinned. "We'll see."

Tony figured he might as well play dumb and asked, "Who are you?"

"Jack Frost." The boy replied, a confused expression flitting across his face. His grin came back with his next question, "Hey, you sure that all your buddies can see me and don't think that you're absolutely bonkers and talking to thin air?"

"I said no more...uhhh..." Tony started to snap, then turned to see Steve and Natasha looking about ready to ship him off to an asylum. "How do you two not see him?" Tony demanded indignantly.

"See who?" Steve demanded in a horrible imitation of Tony's recent tone.

"Jack Frost." Thor replied.

Steve blinked. "Oh..." It was glaringly obvious to Tony how much more stock the Capsicle put in Thor's words rather than in his.

Jack cleared his throat. "So, the interrogation done now, or do you have more questions?" He asked, placing his staff on one shoulder and draping that arm over it to hold the staff in place.

Tony glared. "Yeah. Why are you here?"

Jack shrugged. "It's harder than it looks to dodge around all these buildings using nothing but the wind. I was taking a break on the nearest tall building with an open balcony."

"Wind?" Tony laughed. "Come on, nobody can..." He trailed off as Jack's eyes flashed defiantly and he swung his staff, causing wind to whistle around the Avengers before Jack rocketed into the air. Jack grinned, hovering easily before he loosened his grip on his staff and the wind stopped, depositing Jack gently on the balcony floor.

"Yup." Jack replied, leaning against his staff. "Wind. How else would someone without wings fly solo?"

"An iron suit." Tony shot back.

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Now that, I gotta see." He smirked at the rest of them. "So, what, are you guys like, superhumans?"

"Some of us are not human at all." Thor rumbled. "Though your guess is mostly accurate."

Natasha sighed. "You too?"

Jack's face donned a smirk that Tony knew well. "So how is she rationalising the wind just now?" He inquired curiously, standing fully upright.

"Dunno, how about something a little more drastic?" Tony replied.

Jack looked at him for a long second, then snickered. "I think we'll get along well."

Natasha, meanwhile, was glaring at Tony. "Drastic? What-" She then blinked as snowflakes appeared overhead, seeming to pop right of Stark Tower itself. "I assume that's not normal."

"It's Jack Frost, he's a winter spirit." Bruce supplied.

Natasha blinked at him, then seemed to decide that surely Tony couldn't have roped both Thor and Bruce, the two more level-headed on the team, into a strange prank like this.

Tony smiled as Natasha looked back towards Jack, her jaw opening slightly. "Oh."

Jack smiled widely. "Hey, not bad for adults! So...this is all well and good, but am I in trouble or something?" He asked. "This seems a little grand for just a small chat."

"Suspicious, are we?" Steve inquired.

Jack stuck his tongue out. "The last little chat I had ended up with me being stuffed in a sack and tossed through a magic portal." He defended himself.

"That's a story I have to hear." Tony decided. He then furrowed his eyebrows when Jack suddenly looked up at the roof, a sheepish look blooming on his face.

Tony looked up, but saw nobody. "Who're you looking at, kid?"

Jack hesitated, then shrugged. "The Easter Bunny."

Natasha snorted. "So now the Easter Bunny's real?"

Jack grinned. "Oh, he's real all right. Real annoying, real grumpy, and real full of himself." He then yelped and dove to the side as something clanged against the banister the he had been standing in front of seconds before.

Tony thought that the object looked like oddly a boomerang before it suddenly vanished from sight. Well, that was proof enough for him. The next moment, a six-foot rabbit seemingly popped into existence, holding the boomerang threateningly.

"What was that, ya gumby?" The bunny snapped irritably.

"Ok." Tony sighed. "Easter Bunny has an Australian accent. Cool. What's next, a Chinese Santa?"

Jack snorted. "Russian, actually."

"Wait." Steve muttered. "All those guys are real?"

Jack nodded. "Yup. And most likely mad at me for something I did."

"Ya bet we are!" The rabbit snapped. "What were ya thinkin', spreadin' snow in New York?"

"I remember thinking that the children seemed happy." Jack replied with an innocent expression. "Besides, it's not like I made it snow in Africa or something, it is possible for snow to fall here. So, I made it snow. Whoop-dee-doo. So what's got your tail in a bunch?"

"I'll bunch you!" The rabbit roared, lifting his boomerang.

"Whoa, whoa." Tony protested. "Not on my tower, it just started looking brand-new after the last time it got beaten to pieces."

Jack looked up in interest. "Ooh! When was that?"

Tony rolled his eyes. "Oh, when some crackpot guy called Loki decided it would be fun to try and take over the world by opening a portal in New York right above my tower and let an army of aliens through. No biggie."

Jack snickered. "Really, very similar to an experience I had a while back. The Boogeyman, a.k.a. the King of Nightmares, literally, decided to try and kill off the Guardians by causing all the children to stop believing in them. He almost succeeded, but we won."

Bruce looked at the rabbit in fascination. "So, I take it that the both of you have considerable power? I mean, we've seen some parlor tricks from you, Jack, but..."

The rabbit glared at Jack. "Ya did what?"

Jack smirked. "Oh, stuff like this." He relied, freezing the rabbit's feet to the ground. "Nothing big." He then ducked as the boomerang was thrown at him, diving to the side when the rabbit pulled out another boomerang and went on the attack. He flew up into the air, wary of the boomerangs circling back around.

"Hey, hey, I just said no fighting!" Tony protested. "This isn't funny!"

The rabbit scowled as it sheathed its boomerangs. "So who are ya, anyways?"

"They're the Avengers." Jack replied sweetly as he landed again.

"Recent knowledge for yourself." Steve pointed out.

Jack shrugged. "Well, yeah." He looked over at the rabbit. "So, do I need to go to the Pole or were you just irritable about the snow?"

The rabbit sighed. "Nah, North doesn't wanna see ya."

Jack grinned. "In that case..." He unfroze the rabbit's feet, then turned a hopeful gaze upon Tony. "So, could I get a tour since I'm here?"

Tony sighed. "Sure, what the heck, though not a tour. You can have a peek inside."

Jack let out a whoop. "Yeah!"

The Easter Bunny rolled his eyes. "Well, ya have fun with that. I'm headin' back to the Pole."

Jack wiggled his fingers as if shooing him off. "You've got aways to go then, I'd suggest you get going, Cottontail."

The Easter Bunny looked like he'd like to make a snappy remark but had then thought better of it and simply tapped his foot, opening a hole that he jumped down into. Tony blinked several times, but the hole had already closed, the only evidence that something had been there being a small flower popping up out of nowhere.

Tony turned to Jack. "Right. Why not. So, you wanted to see the inside?"

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Yay, that actually took alot less time than I expected. For those of you who read my other story, don't expect to see much relation between the two. You have been warned.


	2. Chapter 2: The Plot Thickens

Chapter Two: E. Aster Bunnymund

Bunny shivered violently as he jumped out of a tunnel outside the Pole. "Can't feel mah feet!" He protested to the frigid air before bounding off towards the building where a roaring fire was calling his name.

When he reached the Pole, however, another situation awaited him. As he bounded into the building, he realized that if anything, it was even colder in the Pole. Mortified, he looked around, searching for any signs of life. There were none, and even his sensitive ears could find no sound save his own breathing. He went to take a step and skidded across the floor.

He looked closer, and realized that the Pole was entirely frozen over. Without a moment's hesitation he bounded and skidded his way towards North's office. When he kicked in the door, he saw that the office had been trashed but spared the frost treatment.

His mind was whirling, but one recent memory floated to the surface._ Jack nodded. "Yup. And most likely mad at me for something I did."_

His mind settled to a halt, replaced by a bubbling hot feeling that he remembered well. He was furious. Without another thought he stomped, accessing his tunnels.

He took a moment to relish the startled looks on the Avengers faces when he popped out of a tunnel in the middle of the room in front of them. His vision then tunneled slightly when he saw Jack peer at him confusedly.

Bunny pounced forwards before Jack could react, catching the collar of his hoodie and using it to slam him backwards and pin him to the ground.

"Bunny! What the heck!" Jack protested, attempting to break free.

"The Pole!" Bunny snapped. "Frozen over! Everyone gone! What did ya do, and what were ya thinkin'?"

Jack went limp, eyes wide. "The Pole...what? No! Wait...you think _I_ did that?" He inquired in a hurt tone. Something seemed to light in his eyes. "Whoa, whoa! Everyone's _gone_? What about North? And Phil? Where are they? And Tooth! And Sandy! Are they alright?"

Bunny relaxed, releasing Jack. He could tell that Jack was obviously not the culprit. But who else would be capable of freezing over the Pole?

He sighed. "I dunno, mate. I dunno."

Jack bounded to his feet, not showing any sign that he had just been Judo tossed to the ground. "Then we go find out!" He insisted.

"Wait." The word cut through the air, though it had been spoken quietly. Bunny turned to see a man fiddling with glasses looking at him. "We can help you, I think." He then offered a small smile. "Bruce Banner, by the way."

Bunny straightened up. "And why do ya think ya can do that?"

"Ice isn't limited to your friend Jack. An old enemy, Loki, he's an Frost Giant. I personally have not seen him actually create ice, but it stands to reason that it would be possible. From what I've heard, if they just touch you it causes extreme frostbite."

Jack looked up at Bunny. "Seems legit." He said. "And I happen to have conveniently acquired a snow globe through perhaps not _entirely_ honest means. Shall we?"

Bunny rolled his eyes. "One a these days North is gonna catch ya." He scolded. "But let's go." He then nodded at the Avengers. "And yes, ya can come too."

"That's assuming that Loki is the culprit." Bruce reminded them.

"If it's a reasonable possibility, it's one that I'll consider." Bunny replied.

Jack grinned, shook the snow globe, muttered, "Tooth Palace", and threw it against the wall. When the portal appeared, Bunny made sure the Avengers all got through before leaping through himself.

When the portal closed behind him, he looked up to see Tooth fluttering down. "What's going on?" She demanded, looking at the Avengers. "What are they doing here?"

"The Pole's been attacked." Bunny explained. "Frozen over. We have reason to believe that it wasn't Jack, but a fella called Loki. These blokes here have experience dealing with 'im."

Tooth landed softly, her eyes moistening. "And..."

Bunny shrugged. "Dunno, there was nobody there."

Her hands flew to her mouth. "Oh no. What are we going to do?"

Jack shrugged. "Well, it's gotta be night somewhere. I can go fly around and look for Sandy."

Tooth and Bunny looked at each other, remembering what had happened one fateful Easter when Jack had gone off on his own. Then Bunny heaved a sigh. "Alright, go, but don't go chasin' after a mysterious sheila callin' yer name this time, deal?"

Jack wrinkled his nose. "No worries there." Without another word, he flew off.

Bruce cleared his throat softly. "While that clarified very little, I take it that you're one of these guys? From all appearances, I'd say you're the Tooth Fairy."

Tooth smiled, her spirits obviously restored as she fluttered back up to hover closer to eye level. "Yes, that's me. Please, follow me inside." She invited. The Avengers exchanged looks, shrugged, and followed her into one of the towers. She looked back, and Bunny shook his head. Her mouth opened slightly as she realised what he was planning, but he opened a tunnel and jumped in before she could say anything.

Back at the Pole, he was glad to see that this time he had managed to land inside the Pole even though the temperature offered no reward. He ran to North's office and inhaled deeply, picking up a slight scent of cookies. Elves. Not what he wanted. He then noticed that North's swords were still in place, though one was skewed. Bingo.

He caught North's scent first, then secured the swords in the leather strap he carried his boomerangs in. North would appreciate having them once he was found.

Bunny hunched over and began following the faint trail. It would take a long time, that he was sure, and so he wasn't willing to wait while North was in trouble.

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Yeah, had nothing else to do so I cranked out another chapter. And, I will tell you now, will you see Bunny anytime soon? NOPE. Why? I suck at writing things correctly for his character. I seem to vibe better with the ones who can't stay out of trouble. No clue why.

And I apologize right now for cheesy chapter titles, I am unbelievably tired right now.


	3. Chapter 3: Rough Start

Chapter Three: Bruce Banner

Bruce was in the process of trying to figure out if the Tooth Fairy might let him take a crack at one of the extremely fascinating tooth cases when golden sand filtered through an alcove, accompanied by a cold wind.

Jack swooped in, followed closely by an ancient looking propeller plane made entirely of golden sand. He blinked as the plane simply vanished, revealing a tiny little man that seemed to be made of the same sand as the plane had been.

Jack grinned at his expression, then gestured grandly to the little guy. "Sandman, meet the Avengers. Avengers, this is Sandy. Play nice."

Sandy looked up at Jack and made a few images like snowflakes and sleds.

Jack shrugged. "Ok, ok. So I'm not one to talk. Whatever." He looked at Tooth. "Where's Bunny?"

Tooth frowned. "He went looking for North almost right after you left. I...I don't know what to make of all this."

Jack scowled. "Idiot furball. Now we have to wait."

"On the contrary," Tony broke in, "if one of you guys have gone missing, just find them."

Jack folded his arms. "That's the problem." He muttered in an aggrieved tone. "If Pitch has him, then there's pretty much no way we can find North unless Pitch wants us to. If this Loki dude has him, well, there's still not much we can do."

Tooth sighed, looking at the Avengers. "Where would Loki take residence?"

"That is the problem." Thor admitted. "Loki is supposed to be imprisoned in Asgard, my home. I do not understand how he has escaped, and moreover what his motivation would be to do this." He explained.

"Because he's nuts?" Bruce offered, ignored the annoyed look Thor sent him.

Jack shrugged. "Seems to be the only motivation necessary in these cases."

Bruce nodded, then continued, "I'd say our best bet would be to draw one of these two out and capture them in order to gain information."

Tooth pursed her lips. "Yes, but then there is the problem of how to contain a spirit who can use any shadow, no matter the size, to move around."

Natasha blinked. "It would seem that we're going up against someone that has rather unknown powers."

Jack snorted as he perched on his staff. "Unknown? Nah. Pitch basically has the power of shadows. He can use shadows to travel anywhere, and can literally become a shadow while interacting with other shadows to affect the physical. While he's all shadowy and stuff, he can't be detected or touched unless he shows himself. He can use nightmare sand to form Nightmares, which are pretty nasty looking with temperaments to match. Pitch literally lives on fear, he draws power from the fear of others, and children especially. And as such, he has a nasty habit of being able to tell what your greatest fear is, just by looking at you."

Bruce looked over at the Sandman. "And..."

Jack grinned. "Sandy is like the other side of the coin. He controls dreamsand. He can purify nightmare sand, and Pitch can corrupt dreamsand. Fun, right?"

Thor folded his arms. "Loki possesses physical prowess far beyond that of a mortal's, and has a mighty grasp of sorcery. His many magical abilities included astral projection, eldritch energy blasts, illusion casting, hypnosis, and teleportation. As of right now, he does not utilize these powers that I have seen, instead relying on a staff that seems to harness some kind of magic power to create the energy blasts. With this staff he has proven on several occasions that he is able to take control of a person by placing his staff on their chest and ejecting their mind and substituting his will for theirs. He also would seem to have some grasp of control over ice."

Sandy let out a puff of air, forming two large bowling balls that then plowed over a couple bowling pins.

"Yeah, you said it, Sandy." Jack muttered.

Tooth fluttered closer, getting everyone's attention. "Yes, while we may be facing very capable adversaries, we're hardly powerless. I, for one, can obviously fly without ever getting tired. I can speak every language in the world, and I can see and return the memories stored in the teeth of children."

Looking around, she sighed and continued, "North is a master swordsman. While he doesn't have anything all that noteworthy, he does have some grasp of magic and is quite skilled in it's use. He doesn't use magic to fight, though.

Bunny has the physical abilities of a rabbit, obviously, so he has heightened speed and jumping capabilities. He has some control over flora, and can open tunnels by tapping his foot on the ground. These tunnels can take him anywhere at all. He's a dedicated martial artist, wielding enchanted boomerangs. He can use other forms of magic as well, though like North he doesn't usually do so in combat."

Jack grinned. "Yeah, though set one greyhound after him and he's not so tough." He then put his hands nonchalantly behind his head. "I have control over wind, snow, and ice, as you've already seen. I can also freeze things solid without much effort, as well as freeze water just by walking over it. Um, if I use magic I can instill a sense of fun in people and make them relax and have a good time. The normal conduit would be either a snowflake or snowball, of course. I can fly using the wind, obviously. And, I dunno if this counts as a power or not but I'm pretty good at freerunning and parkour and all that."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "You're just a regular powerhouse, aren't you?"

Jack grinned. "Well..." He then looked down as Sandy tugged on his hoodie. "Oh, right. I got this, little man. Well, as I said before, Sandy controls dreamsand and can purify nightmare sand. Dreamsand basically means that he's got magic sand that he can shape into any form he pleases, and can use the sand to give anyone pleasant dreams. A wonderful perk of that is that a little image appears, letting you know what the person is dreaming about. Bunny, if you're wondering, dreams about carrots. His favorite weapon are a pair of whips formed out of dreamsand. Do not get on his bad side, by the way. He doesn't seem to know what gravity is, he can float around but uses dreamsand to propel himself to go faster if need be."

Natasha folded her arms. "So, basically, if he wanted to he could make us all fall asleep with minimal effort?"

Jack grinned. "Pretty much, yeah."

Natasha nodded slowly, eyeing Sandy. "Right. Good to know."

Tooth cleared her throat. "Anyways, what about you guys? You seem to be a special task force for a reason."

Tony grinned. "I make cool stuff. If the rabbit hadn't run off we could go back to my lab."

Jack patted his pocket, then sighed. "No more snowglobes." He said with a disappointed huff.

Sandy signed something to him that looked like a list, and Jack shrugged.

"Hey. You really expect me to shape up after being on the very tip top of the naughty list for 300 years?"

Bruce cleared his throat, evidently the favorite attention-getter of the day. "I, ah, have another personality. I guess. The, ah, 'other guy' is pretty powerful, he comes out when I get angry or riled up in a similar fashion. He's ridiculously strong, along with being impervious to almost any kind of attack."

Steve grinned. "In other words, 'Hulk Smash'."

Jack narrowed his eyes, then grinned. "The Hulk? Jamie was talking about you. He like, totally worships you, man!"

Bruce was taken slightly aback. "That's...gratifying."

Sandy pointed at Steve, who shrugged. "I was injected with a serum that made me superhumanly strong. I have a shield made of the rare metal vibranium which can deflect any attack that I've encountered so far."

Natasha shrugged. "I don't have any superpowers, but I've been in the spy business since I was a little kid. So I'm pretty good at martial arts."

Tony snorted. "Pretty good? You took out the entire security system at Hammer."

Before an argument could erupt, Clint jumped in. "I have above average eyesight, and can hit anything with my bow. I'm also highly trained in martial arts."

Thor nodded. "I have supernatural senses and superhuman strength. My hammer, Mjolnir, enables me to control thunder and lightning as well as do a form of flying."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Thor waved one hand in a dismissive gesture. "It's more like high-speed propulsion that allows me to ascend in the air."

Jack looked slightly disappointed. "Oh."

Sandy smacked his leg slightly, and Jack looked down. Sandy flashed a couple images at him, and Jack took a second before his face cleared.

"Oh, yeah, yeah, got it." He looked up at Tooth. "Sandy just raised the excellent question of why it was the Pole. Just kinda sorta getting us back on track." When Sandy made a few more symbols, Jack stuck his tongue out. "No, you can't go mark your calendar."

Tooth looked at Sandy in confusion. "What do you mean, why the Pole?"

Jack looked down at Sandy. "Well, to answer for him, I'm assuming Sandy meant why, of all places, did Loki attack the Pole?"

Thor shrugged. "What significance did it have?"

Tooth paused. "Well, it is...pretty much our main meeting area."

Tony blanched. "Son of a..."

When everyone looked at him, he leveled a glare at them. "What? If Loki is attacking meeting areas, then conceivably which one would be next?"

Steve rolled his eyes. "You're a little too attached to that tower."

Jack looked up at the sky. "I could probably get to the Pole and back in about twenty minutes if I go fast, not including the time it would take to hopefully locate a snow globe."

Natasha looked at him. "And you'd do that because..."

Jack stared at her. "It's a lead to finding North. We wanted to capture somebody, right?" Without saying anything else he flew off.

"Touchy, isn't he?" Bruce commented.

"Yeah, you and him should give each other anger management tips." Tony muttered.

Steve rolled his eyes. "Anyways. Shouldn't someone contact Fury?"

Tony grinned. "I'll do it." Before anyone could take any preemptive action, his phone was out and he had dialed. "Oh, hey, Fury." He said cheerfully. "Not at Stark Tower? Yeah, we noticed. We kinda got dragged into a little spat between Loki and the Guardians...Oh, y'know, Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, Sandman, and Jack Frost. Those guys...No, I...ok, but only a little, and the alcohol wasn't that strong...Yes, everyone else can see them..."

Bruce shrugged at Tooth as the conversation went on for several more minutes in that fashion before Natasha finally got fed up and snatched the phone out of Tony's hand.

"Fury. It's me." She said, ignoring, Tony's indignant protests. "As hard as it is to believe, he's telling the truth...yeah, I didn't either at first. Anyways, we're working on getting back to Stark Tower right now...we were given a minimum estimate of about twenty minutes...about five minutes ago...yeah."

She dodged an attempt by Tony to reclaim his phone, who then resorted to making a finger gun and shooting it at his other hand, mouthing 'Tower."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Yes, we have reason to believe that Loki will mount an assault on Stark Tower...No evidence besides the fact that the main base for the Guardians was attacked, and the closest equivalent for us is Stark Tower...But the Helicarrier isn't all that likely because we only ever used it as a base once...Understood."

She then handed the phone back to a steaming Tony. "He hung up." She told him. "He's sending a security detail to Stark Tower."

Tony massaged his temples. "If anything, that's worse." He muttered.

Bruce shrugged. "What do you want him to do?"

Tony folded his arms. "Finding a way to speed up time would be nice."

Tooth and Sandy gave each other incredulous glances, then Tooth sighed. "Well, in this circumstance it might be a good idea for me to go talk to my fairies. They might have seen something." She fluttered out before she could be stopped.

Steve glanced down at Sandy. "That was her excuse to get away from the bickering, wasn't it?"

Sandy nodded, and Steve had to ask, "So, you got a way to escape the noise as well?"

The Avengers had no other warning besides a devilish grin on the small being's innocent face before glittering golden sand was puffed into their eyes and everything faded.

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Oh, I really enjoyed this one. And, yes, I actually researched their powers before putting all that in so it is accurate. Ha.


	4. Chapter 4: Here We Go Again

Chapter 4: Sanderson Mansnoozie

Sandy had to chuckle, albeit silently, when Tooth flew in fifteen minutes later to find all the Avengers sprawled on the floor with dreamsand floating peacefully above their heads.

Tooth looked at him. "And how long did you wait before doing this?"

Sandy shrugged and made a stopwatch with two hands about a second apart.

Tooth had to smile. "Should have thought of that earlier, huh?"

Sandy nodded, then smiled when Jack flew in, a snowglobe clutched in his hand and hoodie pocket sporting several suspicious bulges.

Jack let out a low whistle when he saw the Avengers. "Riiiiight...what'd I miss?"

Sandy shrugged in a 'nothing much' gesture and proceeded to wake up the Avengers.

Steve and Thor both immediately shot to their feet, Natasha and Clint seconds behind them.

Natasha gave Sandy a baleful look. "Yes, you could put us all to sleep with minimal effort."

Sandy shrugged modestly, then flashed an image of a snowglobe at Jack.

"Yeah, yeah, ok." Jack muttered, shaking the snowglobe. "Stark Tower." He muttered to it, then threw it against the wall.

Once the portal had settled, Sandy, held out his hand to Jack as the Avengers filed through. Jack pouted and handed Sandy several snow globes. He then jumped through the portal before Sandy could comment on the fact that it was fairly obvious that Jack was still sporting a few snowglobes.

With nothing else to do, Sandy stepped through the portal.

When they reached the other side, Sandy had to roll his eyes at the sight of Tony hustling a couple of guards off the premises.

The conversation was going something along the lines of:

...Fury's orders!

...protect the tower, not take a nap on the couch!

...Fury'll be angry...

..good. Elevator is that way, gentlemen.

Tony turned, brushing his hands together in satisfaction when the men were off the premises. "Right. Back to business."

Sandy rolled his eyes when Jack started howling with laughter, looking out the window. He floated up to see the two guards making rather uncomplimentary gestures up at the tower. Sandy towed Jack away from the window quickly, ignoring Jack's protests that he wasn't a child anymore.

The Avengers had watched this little debacle with varying reactions. Tony finally turned and started walking away.

"I'm gonna go get my suit." He told them. He then looked back at the other Avengers. "And I really hope I don't have to tell you that you guys need to suit up as well. Fury had me store your guy's outfits a while back, guess he was planning for something like this." He then walked out before further comment could be made.

Jack made little shooing motions. "You guys go 'suit up' or whatever. We got it in here."

The Avengers all filed out, minus Bruce and Thor. "I don't get a suit." Bruce muttered.

Jack held up his hands. "Hey, man, wasn't gonna ask. I go into a fight without any shoes, after all." He told him.

Sandy folded his arms as he walked away from the little 'meeting' to look out the window again. The security detail was gone, but he saw that the street was strangely empty of people save for one man. When he looked closer, he saw a green and gold robe similar in design to that of Thor. The man had black hair slicked back to his shoulders and was carrying a golden staff tipped with a stone glowing blue.

And that was before the man turned, looked up, and looked straight at Sandy. When Sandy's eyes widened fractionally, the man below donned a grin promising that bad things were soon to come.

Sandy jumped back from the window, running over to the 'meeting' where Thor and Jack were currently in some kind of argument. He waved his arms frantically, a flag waving above his head. When nobody reacted, he grumbled mentally to himself, Here we go again. And this time there wasn't even a convenient elf. With no other option, he flew up and pinched Jack's ear, hard.

"Ow! Sandy, what was that for!" Jack complained, hand flying to the injured appendage.

In response Sandy pointed to the window, images appearing above his head before disappearing almost immediately to make room for the next one. At everyone's blank look, he rolled his eyes and formed the staff he had seen out of dreamsand.

"Loki." Thor confirmed. When Sandy pointed to the window again, Thor's eyes widened. "He is outside?"

He went to go look, but Tooth held back Jack and Bruce. "Let him check." She told them. "But only him. It might be a diversion."

Jack rolled his eyes, looking towards the window, then blanched. "Not a diversion!" He yelled, pulling Bruce and Tooth to the ground as Sandy summoned a whip and used it to yank Thor back right as the window exploded.

Loki laughed as he landed softly on the shards of glass. "Pathetic." He scoffed, but had to jump to the side when Jack yelled, bringing his staff and releasing bright blue bolts of magic.

All present who were not members of the Guardians looked at the spikes of ice that now coated the area Loki had previously occupied. Which provided an excellent opportunity for a shield to come out of nowhere and connect solidly with Loki's head.

Jack peered suspiciously at Loki after he had crumpled to the ground. "Well...that was... easy..." He muttered, edging a little closer but keeping a healthy distance.

Steve grinned as he picked up his shield. "Or he just really wasn't expecting that."

Jack frowned. "But in order to see and attack us, I would assume that he has contact with Pitch, and if he does, then they certainly would have filled each other in." He replied, still watching Loki. "In which case, maybe this still is a diversion?"

"Or we just won and you're no fun." Tony commented as he entered rather noisily.

"I happen to be the Guardian of Fun, thank you very little." Jack retorted. "I certainly hope you don't have plans of sneaking up on anybody, Tin Can."

The comment was lost on Tony as he noticed what was left of his window. "Oh, come on!" He complained. "I can't leave you guys to watch my tower for five minutes?"

"We were a little busy being attacked." Tooth muttered, uncharacteristically surly.

Jack looked over at Tooth. "Whoo now, what's just your feathers ruffled?"

Tooth shook her head. "I'm just...worried about Bunny and North and we're here dealing with a tower belonging to somebody with serious priority issues."

"Fair enough." Jack agreed easily, earning him a glare from Tony.

"Uh...guys?" Bruce said, pointing at Loki, who was beginning to stir. "I just thought that you should know that..."

Jack cut him off as he edged still closer to Loki and looked over at Thor. "Since he's an Ice Giant, freezing him wouldn't hurt him, right?"

"Theoretically." Thor replied.

Jack smirked. "Oh, good." Right as Loki started to try and get to his feet, Jack sung his staff, connecting with Loki's shoulder and freezing him solid.

"Regular powerhouse." Tony confirmed. "How long will he stay like that?"

Jack flinched as the ice shattered. "Not very long?"

"As I was going to say," Bruce continued in a slightly aggrieved tone, "being an Frost Giant, ice magic probably isn't that effective on him."

"Correct." Loki hissed, climbing to his feet. "So all your pathetic scramblings were for nothing."

Jack rolled his eyes, looking over at Thor. "Is he always like this?"

"Enough!" Loki yelled, holding out his staff.

Jack looked at him uncomprehendingly for a few moments before recalling that Loki could summon energy blasts with his staff, which was glowing brighter than usual at the moment. "Oh. Yeah." He muttered. "Well, if you'll excuse me..."

When Loki fired the blast, Jack used the wind to clear the attack, but was sent flying by the subsequent explosion. Sandy quickly made a cloud of dreamsand to catch him, then went on the attack himself.

Loki was about to home in on the Avengers when a golden whip wrapped itself around his torso. The next moment, Sandy was whipping him around violently, smashing him into the walls and ceiling before throwing him into the floor with such force that he made a dent in the stone.

Steve whistled. "Remind me not to get on your bad side."

Jack snickered, looking at Sandy. "You seem to elicit that response a lot."

Sandy shrugged, and when Loki attempted to rise, finally got sick of it and lobbed a hefty ball of dreamsand right into his face. Loki slumped back down, a little crowns appearing above his head.

Tooth tilted her head. "He dreams of kings?"

Thor shook his head. "Nay, he dreams of being one. He once was one of the heirs to the throne of Asgard, but is no longer so. He believes the crown was stolen from him and wishes to have it back at any cost."

Jack used ice to bind Loki's hands together. "Well, all the same, he's a big pain in the butt."

It was then that the rest of the Avengers walked in. Natasha blinked. "I really wasn't gone for that long and you guys seriously manage to..." Her irritated tirade died when she saw the comatose Loki.

Clint frowned. "That isn't fair."

At the confused looks of everyone else, he protested, "They made it way too easy!"

"Back to the more pressing matter," Jack interjected, "what are we doing with him?"

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Woohoo, fight scene. Sorry about the delay, have been killer busy, still am, so updates might slow waaayyyy down for a while. Sorry.


	5. Chapter 5: Tensions

Chapter 5: Steve Rogers

To say that he was surprised at the moment seemed rather inadequate. Surprised had been when he found out there was a practically invisible boy having a conversation with Stark. Finding out that the Guardians were real. This?

Steve rubbed the back of his head as he surveyed the scene before him. This was bordering on insanity, and he wasn't sure that the change was welcome.

He looked up when Fury walked in before coming to a full stop when seeing the extent of the damage. He looked behind him and signalled, and a group of SHIELD agents hurried in to take custody of Loki.

Fury then looked over at Steve. "Care to explain this to me?"

Steve shrugged. "Loki attacked Stark Tower as we suspected he would. The Guardians stopped him before things got out of hand."

Fury looked around him, making it clear to Steve that this was not the spy's idea of not letting things get out of hand.

It was then that Jack chose to walk in. Steve grimaced, thinking,_ Of ALL the Guardians here, it had to be him that walks in._

Fury, however, remained oblivious, making Steve wonder if the poignant look from before had not been an exaggerated search for the Guardians.

Jack regarded Fury contemplatively. "He doesn't believe, does he?"

Steve glared at Jack. "You leave this to me."

He then looked over at Fury, who, while his expression hadn't really changed, was emanating the vibes that he found this extremely odd. "The Guardians, sir. I believe Agent Romanoff explained the situation to you?"

Fury tilted his head in the affirmative. "And I believed her."

Steve sighed and shook his head as Jack walked over to stand right next to him. "No, you didn't."

"And what evidence do you have to the contrary?" Fury demanded.

Steve shrugged. "If you believed, then you'd be able to see Jack Frost standing to the left of me, sir. Since you have made no indication of noticing his presence, I can only assume you don't believe."

It was then that Jack actually went the smart way about accomplishing things and coated the ground where his feet were with frost, leaving two indisputable footprints frozen onto the ground.

Fury was about to say something when he noticed the footprints. "And I assume that is Jack Frost?" He asked.

"One snowball." Jack pleaded, shifting his weight. "Lemme throw one snowball."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "You'd end up full of lead, most likely, if you did."

"Pffff, nah." Jack said dismissively. "I'm invisible to most of you guys, remember? If they have nothing to aim at, I'm good, right?"

Steve rolled his eyes. "Don't underestimate SHIELD agents."

Jack snorted. "Yeah, yeah."

Fury sighed, rubbing his forehead. "And do you all have attitudes like that?"

Jack grinned. "Nah, I'm one of a kind."

"And yet you act almost exactly like Tony." Steve muttered.

"Nu-uh. He's an adult." Jack laughed.

"Oh really? What are you?" Steve challenged.

Jack smirked. "I became an immortal before I turned 18. I'm still technically a kid."

Steve wasn't quite sure what to say at first. He settled for, "Even so, after however many years, you should've grown up."

Jack laughed. "Dude. Not only am I an immortal kid, but I'm the Guardian of Fun. This is a permanent setting."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Great."

Jack rolled his own eyes. "And you'll be a joy to work with." He mumbled as he started walking away.

"Wait." Fury commanded, and, with a sigh, Jack complied. "What are your goals here?"

"Stop Pitch." Jack replied simply. "Working with you guys is just collateral since Loki teamed up with Pitch."

"Gee thanks." Steve muttered.

"And what are your plans after the threat is dealt with?" Fury pressed.

"Go back to life as normal." Jack replied flippantly. "Why, you expecting us to join up or something? Sorry."

Fury narrowed his eye. "I'm more concerned with making sure you're not a threat."

Jack clapped a hand over his mouth to stop the laugh Steve just knew was fighting to get out.

Tooth, flying in, answered for Jack, "That won't be necessary. I, for one, am older than the mountains, though not as old as the wind. I have not been a threat for that long, and I really see no reason to begin now." She gestured to Jack, who almost had himself back under control. "He, the youngest, is still over 300 years old."

Jack drew a steadying breath and grinned at Tooth. He then turned his attention back to Fury. "Besides. We're the Guardians of Childhood. Some Guardians we'd be if we started skipping around declaring war on adults who can't even interact with us."

Fury raised one eyebrow. "Interact?"

Jack nodded. "If someone doesn't believe, they can't see, hear, or touch us. If we try to make contact, we go right through them. Hurts like heck."

He then turned to look at Tooth. "Any news?" He asked hopefully.

She shook her head. "None. And there have been no signs of Pitch."

"There's got to be a way to draw Pitch out." Jack grumbled, scuffing one foot sullenly. "And, really, this behavior is weird. You'd think he'd take this opportunity to gloat, right?"

Tooth nodded. "Yes, you'd think." Just then, several mini fairies flew and Tooth started rattling off sectors and directions.

Jack smirked. "Some kids just lost some teeth. The mini fairies go out and collect them when Tooth is too busy to go out in the field."

Steve glanced at Tooth. "Why?"

Tooth looked over, pausing in her rapid instructions. "The teeth contain the dearest memories of childhood. I collect the teeth and protect those memories, and if a child ever needs them, I can make them remember those memories."

Steve looked mildly impressed. "So you're the..."

"Guardian of Memories." Tooth confirmed. "Sandy is the Guardian of Dreams, North the Guardian of Wonder, and Bunny the Guardian of Hope. I'm sure Jack's told you his center."

"Center." Steve stated.

"The core of our being." Jack cut in as Tooth went back to her fairies. "What makes us Guardians. My center is Fun, meaning, everything that I do is to bring fun to the kids. Or protect their ability to have fun." He added, eyes daring Steve to bring up his immaturity again.

Fury sighed. "Alright. I need to talk to all of you. Both of you."

Jack mock saluted. "Though you'll have to settle for a couple absences, North's MIA and Bunny went to find him."

Fury nodded. "Hence why you're here."

"Yup." Jack confirmed, skirting Tooth to go get Sandy.

When Tooth distractedly followed, Steve looked over at Fury. "You're not just going to let them go their merry way, are you?"

Fury's eye was unreadable. "Would you?"

Steve was about to reply in the affirmative when he had to be honest. The Guardians were obviously on their side, so why not keep contact?

"Exactly." Fury said. "The situation isn't as easy as you'd think. We'll just have to see where the situation leads."

The conversation ended when everyone walked in, the Guardians staying back while the Avengers found a place to sit.

Steve joined the Avengers and looked at Fury. The man in question looked at the Guardians. "For starters, let's hear about this Pitch of yours."

Jack smirked. "Didn't get the memo? Well, to go verbatim what I said earlier, Pitch basically has the power of shadows. He can use shadows to travel anywhere, and can literally become a shadow while interacting with other shadows to affect the physical. While he's all shadowy and stuff, he can't be detected or touched unless he shows himself. He can use nightmare sand to form Nightmares, which are pretty nasty looking with temperaments to match. Pitch literally lives on fear, he draws power from the fear of others, and children especially. And as such, he has a nasty habit of being able to tell what your greatest fear is, just by looking at you. Please do not make me repeat that or go back over our own powers."

Sandy flashed a couple symbols at him, and Jack shrugged. "Yeah, yeah." He glanced at Fury. "I basically control snow and ice." He pointed at Sandy. "He basically controls dreams, you heard what Tooth does, and Bunny and North are kinda just the 'go whack them' type with their respective weapons."

Fury nodded. "Okay. I assume you know the Avenger's capabilities."

Jack tilted his head. "Yeah, after we told them our powers they reciprocated."

Steve noticed Fury's stance relax somewhat and decided to speak up. "However, Pitch has yet to make an appearance. And I myself am a little leery of what happened earlier with Loki happening again."

"It won't." Fury reassured them. "We are taking him to the helicarrier, and I do want you all to come along, though."

Jack looked up with interest. "Helicarrier?"

"It's basically a flying fortress that Loki nearly blasted out of the sky last time he was kept prisoner there." Bruce offered.

Jack grinned. "Well, not to sound insensitive or anything, the Guardians currently present don't exactly have problems with having to worry about losing altitude."

"So you'll come along?" Fury asked.

"We might as well." Tooth agreed. "Doing so will almost certainly have Pitch and Loki play their hand."

"You're not worried about us trying to force you to stay?" Steve blurted.

Jack looked at him, his eyes unfathomable. "Like you could. May I remind you that the three of us can all fly."

Steve nodded. "Point taken."

Fury put his hands behind his back. "Then it's decided?"

Sandy nodded, forming a moving ball over his head.

"Yeah, you said it, Sandy." Jack laughed. He looked at the Avengers. "Let's get the ball rolling."

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Yep. Figured that things were going a little too swimmingly and that really the Avengers and the Guardians wouldn't really have hit it off that quickly. So, voila. Hope you enjoyed, review with suggestions on what should go down on the helicarrier!


	6. Chapter 6: Plots

Chapter Six: Nicholas St. North

"Pitch!" The large russian bellowed at tip volume. "Show yourself!"

There was silence accompanied only by the distant echoes of his enraged shout, then Pitch stepped fluidly out of the shadows. "You called?"

"Why are you doing this?" North demanded, giving a kick to the cage he was in for emphasis.

Pitch shrugged. "Isn't it obvious? Christmas is around the corner. The Pole has been destroyed. What hope have you, even if you are somehow rescued, to put Christmas back online?"

North fumed at the shadowy figure. "The Guardians will pull through. That is my hope. What is yours?" He inquired.

"I believe that would be me." An accented voice replied pleasantly.

North whirled as a tall figure stepped into view, a gold, horned helmet gleaming dully in what little light there was, further accented by the blue gleam coming from a stone in his staff. "Who are you?" North demanded, reaching for sabers that weren't there.

"I am Loki, of Asgard." Loki announced grandiosely. "And I am burdened with glorious purpose."

North regarded him skeptically. "What purpose?" He asked. "To rule somewhere?" He had seen these types before.

"I was a _king_!" Loki snapped. "But my throne was _taken_ from me, by my brother."

North scratched his head. "Yes, I feel very sorry, but how this affect us?"

"Silence, you mewling quim!" Loki ordered, facing Pitch. "I tire of this, and the Avengers have taken me into custody. They will notice if I do not presently return my attention to the situation there. Though it is as you say, there is great dissension there."

Pitch blinked, clearly confused as to what the devil was going on. "Of course there's dissension. Jack Frost is there. Nobody can put up with that twit for long. If you were captured, how are you _here_?"

Loki rolled his eyes. "Astral projection. I am not actually present at this time."

North let out a slow breath when Loki disappeared with a shimmer. "You will not win."

Pitch smiled. "Won't I? I have a god on my side, North. Your band of wierdos has a ragtag bunch of _freaks_ that can't even work together when all is well. What is there to stop me?"

"They will." North vowed. "We did once, will do again."

Pitch sighed. "Well, as interesting as it is, observing your stupidly blind faith, I really must be going. Hope you parted with the Guardians on friendly terms."

"Wait!" North roared. "If your goal is to destroy, why keep me here?"

"Bait." Pitch cackled before disappearing into shadow.

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Ahhhhhhh this is a terribly short chapter please do not hate me life is being really really mean right now and plot bunny is hiding from me. Dunno what'll happen next. Suggestions are greeted with hugs and cookies. And now I want a cookie. Later.


End file.
